NJ greenlights two new offshore wind projects

During a special meeting of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the board approved more than 3,700 Megawatts of new offshore wind capacity, moving New Jersey closer to Governor Phil Murphy’s goal of 11,000 Megawatts of offshore wind power by 2040 and 100 percent clean energy by 2035. The two projects are expected to come online in 2031, are projected to power more than 1.5 million homes.

“The wind off the Jersey Shore – especially in the New York Bight – remains as strong as ever,” said Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center.  “It’s time to harness that power of the wind to fight climate change and move us off fossil fuels.”

New Jersey has the technical potential to generate more than 280TWh of electricity from offshore wind, more than enough to meet the state’s electricity demand, even if the Garden State electrified its buildings, transportation system and industry, transitioning them to run on electricity instead of fossil fuels.